Place: Reviews & Ratings

The mecca for spontaneous fermentation and sours lives up to the hype. The tour was incredible and it was really interesting that they give you a 5 minute talk and then let you run around the bruery by yourself with a booklet for a self guided tour. You would never be allowed to do this in the US. Onsite sampling was great but the to go bottles were a little dissapointing. We got to try an 18 month lambic and it was really interesting to compare that to the geueze. They had a soft cheeze for sale that was aged in geueze and it was delicious, if it's available while your there you have to buy it. (602 characters)

14 Euro a bottle... sign me up...Pay 7 Euro and you do your own tour and it comes with 2 samples you can have. After that you can buy certain Cantillon products by the bottle or the glass. Did a Zwanze vertical while I was visiting and it was worth it. (253 characters)

Beer history. I didn't appreciate sours or wild ales until I came here. Staff is incredibly friendly, the beer is great, and the place itself is historic. I would recommend to anyone going to Brussels not to leave without visiting Cantillon. (241 characters)

There is a lot of hype about Cantillon. I do enjoy pretty much everything I've had from them, but there are other lambic producers/blenders that I feel don't get as much attention that deserve more. That being said, this is a place where you can come in alone and leave with good friends from all over the world. It's hard to say many other places are like this.

The service is generally nice though I feel like they can sometimes be a little short with people who seem like they're only interested in the rarest of the rare. Can't blame them. Jean Van Roy is perfectly willing to chat with people if he isn't too busy.

When I was there, the selection for on-premise drinking was incredible, but for take-away was quite minimal. Wasn't too disappointed though. (762 characters)

The mecca of lambic, gueuze, spontaneous fermentation and all things sour. Brasserie Cantillon hands down has been one of the best, if not THE best brewery I've had the pleasure of visiting.

The brewery itself is located in Anderlecht, a some 20 minutes walk from the main Brussels tourist plaza The Grand Place. Upon entering the dimly lit brewery, you are immediately greeted with an incredible aroma of vinegar and funk... just enough to not only make your nosehairs tingle but also have you grinning from ear to ear.

We were first asked if we would like to order at the bar and sit or take the tour. It is 7€ per person for a self guided tour which starts off with a nice personal introduction about the lineage, lambic & brewing process. You are also given 2 pours at the very end for you to soak everything in.

Photos and all kinds of memorabilia line the shelves and walls, providing a great atmosphere with plenty of seats and tables to accommodate groups. I had the pleasure of meeting a handful of great people visiting from all over the world as well as Jean himself who was manning the bar, pouring and providing explanations of each beer they had.

The service was great, the selection that day was AMAZING! It was just too bad that the bottles for takeaway at the time were very limited.

All in all, Brasserie Cantillon is a must visit for any beer lover. (1,375 characters)

This will go down as the best brewery / bar experience in my life to date. We bumped into two other American couples (one baby altogether), a pair of dudes from Michigan, and one extra guy from Chicago area, and we bought and shared eleven different Cantillon beers.

Cantillon was my #1 stop for this trip. The tour is interesting, it's a surprisingly small location. I like the self-guided but textually narrated tour. Very nice. I wish they had been brewing when we visited.

Obviously there is no food. But, they're Cantillon. The selection of Cantillon beers can't be beat. And their beer is great.

Service is good enough. Servers are also tellers are also tour prompters are also interpreters are also whatever other roles need to be filled.

This place is niche. The people who go there did not bumble in, and they are not there to get hammered. They're there because they love beer. This makes for a fabulous vibe. This was a great stop for me, and I will recommend it to anyone (that I think can handle sour beers). (1,037 characters)

So this is it...the heart of lambic-dom on earth. Even I--not a total Cantillon fanboy like many people--was highly impressed here. I sort of just sat down, soaked it all in, and thought, "this is why I'm here." There are two service stations, one for buying drinks (bottles for consumption on site, or pitcher pours), and one for merch and whatever take-home bottles are available. To the side is a medium-sized seating area, with a few booths and barrel tables. When I visited, it was pretty laid-back, maybe 20 people came in and out in the 2-3 hours I was there, and a few larger tour groups. Great to see that as popular as Cantillon is worldwide at this point, their home base is still relatively casual and quiet.

The service is basically just hoping someone is at the counter when you need them. Selection...I'd have to go with "awesome," considering what was available. This changes quite often I'm sure, but when I was there, it was tremendous.

I didn't do the actual tour, but from the seating area, you can see the bottling process, and with a quick jaunt to the restroom, and you'll see the thousands upon thousands of aging bottles stacked up stoically in the halls.

Overall a great experience, and well worth multiple visits. (1,243 characters)

How do you rate a place like Cantillon? If this is your kind of beer, then this is the place to go...period. Service? Meh. Vibe? Pretty cool until a bus of tourists shows up. Quality? Do you have to ask? It's freaking awesome.Selection? Nothing but the standard stuff when I was there. Everything else was gone.Truly a can't miss stop if you are in Brussels. (373 characters)

A must for anyone who cares about beer, regardless of whether you like the style or not. The smells alone are worth the 7€ self guided tour fee. I was astonished at how inexpensive the bottles to go were. Friendly and passionate staff. My only disappointment was that I wasn't there on a Tuesday or Thursday, when they're brewing. (332 characters)

Took the train from Bruges here (highly recommended) and then made the short walk from the train station to the brewery.

The location leaves a bit to be desired. But who cares, this is a brewery, and the rent is probably cheap.

When we entered the place was super noisy, it was bottling day. We settled in for an unblended lambic, classic gueuze and a kriek. While sitting enjoying our beers, Jean stopped by with a couple of free glasses of the beer they were bottling, (Saint Lamvinus) a very cool and friendly gesture! Decided to just skip the tour, the one that left while we were there was packed any ways.

On my way out I was helped by the nice gentleman working the gift shop and grabbed a few bottles of Fou to take home.

As everyone knows, this is a must stop in Brussels, and Belgium for that matter. (871 characters)

This place is as good as it gets! A working museum, a step back in time. With the perfect funk in the air; The funky bacteria odor in the barrel rooms reminded me of my grand parents Poughkeepsie New York basement, perfect for open air fermentation. Maybe Grandpa was up to more then we realized. With service as good as a Portland Oregon upstart brewery and equipment older then any of us care to live, this place is amazing! One thing you do not want to do if you are ever in the vicinity is not go. Double check the hours. Take your time during the self guided tour then taste all they have to offer at the end. Your taste buds will crave the Gueuze, the Kriek and the Iris for months to follow. IPA biased drinkers will be shown the other dimension of the taste spectrum. Beer Opine World Class! (811 characters)

On my first visit to the legendary Brasserie Cantillon I walked from the city center of Brussels and had a hell of a time locating the place. I walked pass the street three times before realizing it was the building across from an empty lot, but after I saw the iconic sign my excitement level rose and a big grin appeared across my face.

Walking into the brewery/museum through the large wooden door I was surprised there was only about 15 people in the building at about 2PM. The line to purchase merchandise and bottles was the longest (though quick) and there was no one in the line to purchase beer to have at the tasting area.

I waited to get a ticket for the self guided tour (which included to samples - gueze and your choice of three variants). The introduction to the tour explains a bit of the history and the fundamentals of the process behind lambic production, then you're let loose in the amazing building.

Seeing the belt and gear driven mash tun and grain silo, the cool ship on the third floor the primary fermentation room in the attic with the barrels actively fermenting, then the aging barrels and eventually the bottling machine (which was being operated at the time by Jean) - Everything original (besides the bottler) and everything used heavily - awesome.

The tasting room was filling up by the time the tour ended but I was able to get my gueze and enjoy it while walking around a bit more. My second sampling was the Kriek - Event better.

If you are a sour beer fan this place is a must and even if you aren't and are in Brussels.. go any way. The bottle list was fantastic also, on my second visit (the next day) I had Fou Foune, Zwanza '12 among others.

Before leaving I ended up purchasing 5 bottles to bring back along with a shirt and a flute glass. All in all Cantillon met and exceeded the big status it has. (1,853 characters)

I was there yesterday to pick up some sour beers. Yhey had the Fou Foune, the Lou Pepe Frambois and some Mamouche for me. The brewery is located in a part of Brussels which is a quit part. (190 characters)

Stopped in after a short walk from the Brussels-MIDI station through what seemed to be a bit of a sketchy area. Walked inside and there was a large collection of bustling, lambic drinking people. Took the tour that included 2 glasses of beer, then had a Zwanze 2012. Lucky enough to show up the day after releasing LP Framboise and Fou Fone so walked off with what I could carry. Limit of 5 boxes per person per visit, and they freaking give it away with the prices charged. Nice staff and a neat place. Got pretty crowded in the afternoon and there was quite a line built up to get a beer. All in all a great experience. (621 characters)

This is the mothership. Once you will enter Brasserie Cantillon, your life will never be the same and your love of beer will have grown deeper. The place is located in a little street and fits within the neighborhood. Once you enter in, you know you're in for something special. The first thing that gets to you is the smell. That smell is magical... Then, you have friendly people asking you what you are here for. You should then go visit the brewery and see how the lambic miracle happens. After that, it is time for your tasting. Ask all the questions you ever had and they will be answered kindly and professionally, possibly by Jean Van Roy himself. Enjoy the tasting and then some other Cantillon beers at ridiculously low prices if you live in the US.You will leave that place transformed and a better person. (818 characters)

I had the privelege of visiting Belgium recently, one of the places that was top on my list to check out was Cantillon - I was fortunate enough to return for a second visit and really loved the tour and just how everything continues according to the traditional lambic method. To see this place is even better than I imagined there is so much history contained within the walls. I felt the prices were so reasonable compared to anywhere else you can find Cantillon products and the staff were very friendly and accomodating. If you have the chance to make the trip I can't recommend Cantillon as they are a world class operation. (633 characters)

In an unassuming location on an under kept street off the touristy path lies the historic Cantillon Brewery, one of the last stalwarts of the traditionally done – and according to most, real - Lambics.

This is enough to instill a deep sense of reverence in just about anyone who loves beer – It sure had that effect on me – but what I soon realized was that once you step inside and see how humbly things are set up and how unconceited the workers go about pilling crates, inspecting fruit and serving their beer you can’t help but feel an enormous serenity and ease.

The whole place emanates a real, rustic authenticity the kind that can’t be fabricated:The interior is modestly set up with dusty, dim lighted rooms filled with functionally laid out repurposed furniture; The drinks are served from a cask-fed mug; The prices are very affordable (on just about anything really); The servicemen are friendly and will attend to your queries in the most honest manner.

You can even take a valuable walk through the innards of the brewery AND have a couple of samples for a few Euros. You couldn't ask for anything more, literally. High recommended. (1,162 characters)

The brewery is a fairly easy walk from the city center, through a predominantly middle eastern neighborhood, of less than beautiful architectural detail. We arrived before noon at the brewery. From the outside this is just a yellow painted building with a large barely marked warehouse door. A smaller door opens into the brewery itself. Contrary to popular belief of lambic breweries opening their ceiling louvres to let in the wild yeast from a bucolic Belgian countryside, this place is smack dab in the middle of an urban neighborhood! These guys have been brewing sour beers here since around 1900, using the same methods of open spontaneaous fermentation and barrel aging. They have tried some unusual ingredients over time as well, but the process is very traditional.

This particular evening is a sour beer festival and many sour-heads from across the globe had travelled to the area to take part in that. Like me, these folks wanted to get to Cantillon before hand! The place was crowded and bustling with beer geeks of all nationalities, while poor brewery workers struggled to wheel palates of bottles past the throng. They have made some changes in set up since our last trip out and now have a small tasting bar near the entrance where you can sample beers or order full bottles of the rare stuff. We saw our favorite beer from them (possibly favorite beer ever), the Lou Pepe Kriek, up on the board. We ordered the bottle and it came to us unlabeled and coated in a fine layer of dust, uncorked and lying at an angle in a long wicker basket.

We had been on a tour of the brewery a few years ago and that is certainly worth doing if you are able. (1,663 characters)

I've dreamed of visiting Cantillon and after a couple of failed attempts this past summer, I finally made it. It was everything I'd hoped an more.

The beer selection and quality is amazing. We split 750s of FF, St Lam and LP Kriek. It was my first time trying each. And we picked up St Lam, LP Gueuze and a few others to take home. And the prices? They practically give it away.

The atmosphere is awesome. It's filled with tradition and loaded with comfort. Between the small stove that heats up the table area and the barrels that you sit at, it couldn't be better. We skipped the tour but the walk to the rest rooms alone was probably all I could handle. Wow!

I feel I've now enjoyed one of the ten great wonders of the world (not just the beer world mind you). What a day! (778 characters)

I went here for my birthday! I've tried Cantillon beers on tap throughout Europe, and I've always dreamed of going straight to the source. Cantillon is most certainly on my top 3 list of breweries. While this brewery is in the middle of nowhere in Belgium, the atmosphere inside was perfect and the people were lovely. It only costs 6 euros per person for a tour and 2 samples of beer (of your choosing, from two lists). The tour is quaint, and you get to see all of the workers in action. The smell of sweet beer wafting through the air is enough to make your mouth water as you walk down hallways of dusty barrels and walls high with newly bottled brews. Once you're finished, you can chill out and drink your two samples, while staring at the wall of merchandise of which you will feel compelled to buy for all of your friends (or yourself).

Visited the Brasserie twice during a 3-day stay in Brussels in the first week of July 2013. We were able to piggyback on a guided tour in a large group of college-age folks- they sounded American like us.

So basically the best way to describe the brewery is to smell a Classic Geuze. Seriously. Just smell it, and that is what you smell as soon as you walk through the brewery's doors. This brewery is located in Anderlecht, which is a grittier side of town, but not too far from Bruxelles Midi. The tour itself was fascinating for someone who hasn't seen a coolship yet, and the employee who acted as a spontaneous guide had a lot of interesting things to say about beer in general. I really enjoyed the entire atmosphere of the tour, seeing the attic with the holes in it, the coolship and the barrel room. And then afterwards, you get to taste the unblended, young lambic and one pour of your choice. After that, you can buy bottles for on-site consumption- they had a lot available on top of the 3 year-rounds, like 50N4E, St. Lamvinus, Lou Pepe Kriek/Framboise, Vigneronne, Iris, Faro, etc. There are t-shirts and souvenirs available on top of the bottles to-go; they only had Classic, Kriek and Rosé available to go though.

Service is fairly average, it's a family-run operation after all so you kind of have to flag someone down to buy something at the bar. Nothing special here. But the prices you pay for the bottles to-go are as good as it gets anywhere in the world, and the prices for the bottles for on-site consumption were also very reasonable.

It's a lot of fun to visit this brewery and talk to the employees there including Jean Van Roy. It's also a lot of fun to drink bottles on the premises, which is just ridiculous when you think about it. Where else can you just pay under $100 to drink 75cl bottles of 50N4E, Lou Pepe Kriek, Lou Pepe Framboise, Saint Lamvinus, Iris and Vigneronne in one sitting? Ridiculously reasonable. (1,950 characters)

I got here on a Saturday morning right at opening and I'm sure glad I made it in that early. By 11, this place was starting to get quite a few people coming through. The tour was self-guided and allowed you to explore their entire brewery at your own leisure. I took pictures, but pictures cannot capture the most amazing parts of this place: The smells. When in the attic with the coolship, there is so much musty sweetness in the air. The staff, even though they were busy, went out of their way to make sure I enjoyed the visit. The in-house drink selection was great, and the take-home selection was fairly impressive as well. This is a must-see in Brussels, though I'm sure you already knew that. (701 characters)

Really no point in reviewing Cantillon. If you're in Brussels, and you're aware enough to be on this website, you should be at Cantillon.

The tour is fine - 6 euros and you get a brief introduction in the language of your choice and then you're free to walk around on the self guided tour. Let's face it, by this point, you know how beer is made so you dont need the whole malt/hop drill. It's cool to see their open fermentation set-up, the barrels, and walls of bottles. A few small tastings of the standards are included.

The in-house consumption list is generally pretty strong, with significantly lower prices than you'll find anywhere else. On my last visit, 50 degrees north/4 degrees east, lou pepe framboise, zwanze 2012, iris, cuvee st gilloise, and a few other standards were all available. There are a few dirt-cheap drafts as well.

Take-away sales are a little less straight forward - they have the basics available for dirt cheap but are typically sold out of everything else. Sometimes you really have to pry to find out whats really for sale, that isnt listed. Dont be surprised to have to purchase a certain number of standards to purchase a specialty. Kind of a shitty business practice in my book, but when at Cantillon, I play by their rules.

They have gueuze cheese and allegedly salami at times, but not on this visit. Best to eat prior. (1,364 characters)